Friday, April 12, 2013
Animoto Videos about Invasive Plant Species
WOW! So as part of weeks 5/6 I chose to help educate my students about the invasive plant species in Virginia. I began the inquiry as a guided session and it turned into an open session. My students were assigned a plant, given a copy of a Department of Conservation article, a computer, and the simple questions of Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? and asked to answer them in their videos which are also posted on this blog by the plant name. The students took complete control of the project, and I simply asked if they had answered all five questions. The students then presented their video and answered questions from the class and our two guest watchers. Check out the videos in the previous posts.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Changing the Science Programs
Over the last three years, I have attended any and all STEM related workshops and professional development to increase my own awareness. This is always the first step in educating others. As I have done this, I started with my own classroom and then moved to educating my grade level. I am in charge of writing the science plans for our grade level and designing the program, so this means that I write STEM units and then educate them on how to implement them in their classrooms. At first they really objected, but then when they started to experience the excitement from their students they were invigorated.
The second step is to educate my school. I have brought my principal onboard with the integration of STEM in all elementary classrooms. After seeing what my students have completed and the integration of math, writing, science, reading, and technology into the process, she was excited about other classrooms following suit. The next step was to design a professional development session in which the faculty participated in their own STEM lessons based on a concept that they taught. Let's say it opened a lot of eyes and I heard many OOOHHHH's.
At the district level this becomes a little more tricky. We have a director of math and science instruction, and her specialty is math. She has little interest in science and therefore asks me to attend many science and STEM workshops in her place. I have applied to be a presenter for the Fall 2013 professional development sessions. I am hoping to gain an interest in the elementary level that will get teachers up and moving with the STEM initiative, so that as the students reach the middle school and high school level they already have a greater interest in the STEM career paths.
The second step is to educate my school. I have brought my principal onboard with the integration of STEM in all elementary classrooms. After seeing what my students have completed and the integration of math, writing, science, reading, and technology into the process, she was excited about other classrooms following suit. The next step was to design a professional development session in which the faculty participated in their own STEM lessons based on a concept that they taught. Let's say it opened a lot of eyes and I heard many OOOHHHH's.
At the district level this becomes a little more tricky. We have a director of math and science instruction, and her specialty is math. She has little interest in science and therefore asks me to attend many science and STEM workshops in her place. I have applied to be a presenter for the Fall 2013 professional development sessions. I am hoping to gain an interest in the elementary level that will get teachers up and moving with the STEM initiative, so that as the students reach the middle school and high school level they already have a greater interest in the STEM career paths.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Keeping Up With Global Competition
In the article "What's Our Sputnik?" by Thomas Friedman, I absolutely agree with his point of view on the Middle East. He points out to us that," If they're not ready to take the lead, to speak out and fight the madness in their midst, for the future of their own societis, there is no way we can succeed." He is absolutely correct. Just think about our stance in Vietnam. It can have a direct correlation between the conflict in the Middle East with its constant embattlement with the Taliban and other insurgents.
While in Vietnam, we were supporting the democratic government of South Vietnam. In the end, the democracy failed and the civil war was a failure. The United States spent a lot of money and lost 58,000 soldiers, while many others were mamed. At the pull out of our men, the south fell and the communist government ruled.
It leads to the question, "If they were not willing to fight against a communist rule as strongly as we were, were they ever really ready?"
This same question is present today in Afghanistan. I am in support of our soldiers and will never cease to be. My nephews are serving in Afghanistan, but could our money be better spent on the education of our children?
We are in great need of a new Sputnik! What will it be? Will it be moving forward to colonizing the moon? Landing on Mars? Creating alternate energy sources? Finding ways to preserve endangered species? There are so many new endeavours that need to be explored by our children. We need to find a new challenge that forces the investment in science education. Our students should not have materials that are weak at best. We need to find the money to invest in out children!
Friedman, Thomas. (2010). New York Times, Week 8, January 17, 2010.
While in Vietnam, we were supporting the democratic government of South Vietnam. In the end, the democracy failed and the civil war was a failure. The United States spent a lot of money and lost 58,000 soldiers, while many others were mamed. At the pull out of our men, the south fell and the communist government ruled.
It leads to the question, "If they were not willing to fight against a communist rule as strongly as we were, were they ever really ready?"
This same question is present today in Afghanistan. I am in support of our soldiers and will never cease to be. My nephews are serving in Afghanistan, but could our money be better spent on the education of our children?
We are in great need of a new Sputnik! What will it be? Will it be moving forward to colonizing the moon? Landing on Mars? Creating alternate energy sources? Finding ways to preserve endangered species? There are so many new endeavours that need to be explored by our children. We need to find a new challenge that forces the investment in science education. Our students should not have materials that are weak at best. We need to find the money to invest in out children!
Friedman, Thomas. (2010). New York Times, Week 8, January 17, 2010.
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